Melania Trump re-files Daily Mail lawsuit

Rosckville — First lady Melania Trump has re-filed a libel lawsuit against the corporation that publishes the Daily Mail's website, this time in New York, for reporting rumors that she worked as an escort.

In the new filing on Monday, the first lady's attorneys argue the report damaged her ability to profit off her high profile.

Mrs. Trump, the filing states, "had the unique, one-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as an extremely famous and well-known person, as well as a former professional model, brand spokesperson and successful businesswoman, to launch a broad-based commercial brand in multiple product categories, each of which could have garnered multi-million dollar business relationships for a multi-year term during which Plaintiff is one of the most photographed women in the world."

Those product categories, it goes on to say, could have included apparel, accessories, jewelry, cosmetics, hair care and fragrance, among others.

Trump had previously filed the lawsuit against Mail Media Inc. in Maryland, but a judge earlier this month ruled the case shouldn't be filed in Maryland and dismissed it. The lawsuit now filed in New York, where the corporation has offices, seeks compensatory and punitive damages of at least $150m.

Trump had sued Mail Media Inc. along with blogger Webster Tarpley for reporting the rumors. Trump filed the lawsuit in Maryland after both Tarpley and the Daily Mail issued retractions. The lawsuit against Tarpley has been allowed to move ahead in Maryland.